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UC Riverside majors and salaries
University of California, Riverside · Riverside, California · Public · 22,593 undergraduates
Business Administration, Management and Operations awards the most degrees here (1,648 over two years), and it also pays above most other programs: $72,027 four years out. Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies graduates earned the least four years out, a median of $35,583; the top program pays 3.3 times as much. University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, UNC Charlotte and University of Nevada, Reno trail UC Riverside on median earnings ten years after enrollment, while California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and University of Illinois Chicago are ahead.
Highest-paying bachelor's programs
Every program with earnings data
| Program | Graduates (2 yrs) | Median debt | Pay after 1 yr | Pay after 4 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Science | 611 | $15,611 | $73,293 | $117,705 |
| Computer Engineering | 87 | $20,666 | $76,772 | $107,193 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | 120 | $22,500 | $83,137 | $102,630 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 241 | $19,958 | $69,819 | $93,721 |
| Chemical Engineering | 98 | $18,086 | $73,094 | $91,457 |
| Information Science/Studies | 116 | $15,000 | $90,235 | – |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering | 158 | $18,500 | $52,518 | $90,041 |
| Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering | 50 | $21,250 | $48,896 | $84,300 |
| Statistics | 47 | – | $53,939 | $78,492 |
| Physics | 76 | $17,500 | $34,470 | $74,410 |
| Microbiological Sciences and Immunology | 70 | $17,145 | $52,104 | $72,295 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | 1,648 | $13,763 | $54,234 | $72,027 |
| Economics | 614 | $15,000 | $45,759 | $66,682 |
| Materials Engineering | 40 | $22,999 | $66,124 | – |
| Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences | 141 | $17,083 | $44,322 | $65,813 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research | 89 | $13,500 | $46,178 | $64,944 |
| Business/Managerial Economics | 0 | – | $48,627 | $64,147 |
| Chemistry | 121 | $15,299 | $51,428 | $64,131 |
| Mathematics | 302 | $17,763 | $39,461 | $63,596 |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities | 178 | $14,875 | $34,349 | $62,211 |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences | 27 | – | $31,628 | $59,677 |
| Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology | 275 | $15,000 | $40,163 | $59,549 |
| Public Policy Analysis | 176 | $16,660 | $44,033 | $58,504 |
| Sustainability Studies | 53 | $21,500 | $45,627 | $58,463 |
| Biology, General | 1,288 | $15,616 | $29,365 | $58,339 |
| International/Globalization Studies | 43 | – | $40,708 | $57,959 |
| Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education | 382 | $15,000 | $31,262 | $57,847 |
| Political Science and Government | 497 | $17,708 | $38,295 | $56,740 |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies | 78 | $12,333 | $35,211 | $56,555 |
| International Relations and National Security Studies | 121 | $15,000 | $41,407 | $56,108 |
| Sociology | 577 | $14,250 | $36,034 | $55,682 |
| Social Sciences, Other | 46 | $17,764 | $43,005 | $55,087 |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other | 4 | – | – | $54,090 |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts | 386 | $15,500 | $29,349 | $52,699 |
| History | 213 | $17,302 | $32,760 | $51,913 |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences | 244 | $18,606 | $26,659 | $51,865 |
| Philosophy | 75 | $16,660 | $32,349 | $51,402 |
| English Language and Literature, General | 217 | $15,000 | $28,456 | $50,712 |
| Research and Experimental Psychology | 1,196 | $15,000 | $31,960 | $49,947 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services | 96 | $17,243 | $29,142 | $46,306 |
| Anthropology | 158 | $16,500 | $35,867 | $45,821 |
| Dance | 21 | – | $28,531 | $45,804 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics | 109 | $14,500 | $30,400 | $42,692 |
| Fine and Studio Arts | 97 | $16,500 | $26,177 | $40,774 |
| Area Studies | 19 | – | – | $39,039 |
| Music | 44 | $20,035 | $38,187 | – |
| Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies | 127 | $16,448 | $26,549 | $35,583 |
Programs are grouped by four-digit CIP code, so one row can cover several related majors. "Graduates" counts bachelor's degrees awarded across the two years that make up each earnings cohort.
Outcomes
- Six-year graduation rate
- 75% (four-year colleges: 54% median)
- First-year students who return
- 88%
- Students per faculty member
- 22
- Median earnings 10 years after enrolling
- $72,974 (four-year colleges: $58,912 median)
- Median federal debt at graduation
- $16,368 (four-year colleges: $21,609 median)
Colleges similar to UC Riverside
The six public four-year colleges closest to UC Riverside in acceptance rate and undergraduate enrollment.
| College | Acceptance rate | Avg net price | Earnings after 10 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Pomona, CA | 75% | $9,404 | $77,464 |
| University of Oklahoma Norman, OK | 77% | $15,531 | $66,905 |
| University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL | 77% | $9,540 | $73,666 |
| Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK | 75% | $17,058 | $60,713 |
| UNC Charlotte Charlotte, NC | 80% | $15,142 | $63,486 |
| University of Nevada, Reno Reno, NV | 74% | $13,797 | $67,303 |
Program earnings and debt come from the College Scorecard field-of-study file: median pay of graduates who were working and not enrolled, one and four years after finishing, for two pooled graduating classes. Programs with too few graduates are suppressed by the Department of Education and do not appear. College Scorecard data updated November 2, 2026. How these figures are built · UC Riverside on College Scorecard